Introduction to

Environmental
Science

In every deliberation, we must consider

our impact on the next seven
generations.

The Iroqouis Confederacy

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Environmental Science
• Environmental science is the study of the interaction
of humans with the natural environment.

• The environment includes all conditions that surround

living organisms:
• Climate
• Air and water quality
• Soil and landforms
• Presence of other living organisms

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• Environmental science and the
issues that it studies are
complex and interdisciplinary.

• Includes concepts and ideas from

multiple fields of study.
• Decisions have impacts in all
these fields of study.

Source: Principles of Environmental

Science, Cunningham, 2005.

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• A community decides to use coal for electricity,
as it is the cheapest source available.
(Economics)
• The coal must be mined from under the soil.
(Geology)
• The coal must be transported to the population
center by road or rail. (Engineering)
• When it is burned at a power plant, air pollution
is released. Some of that pollution is converted
to acid in the atmosphere. (Chemistry)
• This falls as acid rain somewhere downwind.
(Meteorology)
• The acid stresses plants by affecting their
nutrient absorption. (Ecology)
• Laws are passed requiring the plant to install
pollution scrubbers. (Politics)

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Major Environmental Problems

• Resource Depletion
• A great deal of resources are needed to support the human
population (~7 billion).
• Renewable resources can be replenished within a human
lifetime.
• Timber, water.
• The supply of nonrenewable resources is replenished
extremely slowly, if at all. These can be used up.
• Coal, oil, minerals.

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 Coal is a nonrenewable resource. Over time, it will become
more difficult and expensive to extract.

 This graph represents world coal reserves as of 2008. It is

estimated we have about 250 years of the resource remaining
at current rates of use. 6
 Major Environmental Problems

• Pollution
• Pollution is a degradation or an
undesired change in air, water, or
soil that affects the health of
living things.
• Biodegradable pollution will break
down naturally over time.
• Nondegradable pollution does
not break down.

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• Pollution, whether in air or water, can move and
affect ecosystems far away from the source.
• This map shows the areas with the highest
concentrations of air pollution.

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 Major Environmental Problems

• Loss of Biodiversity
• The number of species on the Earth is unknown, but
estimated to be in the tens of millions.
• Biodiversity is the number of different species present in
one specific ecosystem.
• Extinction, or the complete loss of a species, is a natural
event that can be accelerated by human actions.

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 Loss of Biodiversity
• There are five known major
extinction events in Earth’s
history.
• The most recent major
extinction, about 65 million
years ago, caused 75% of all
species to disappear from the
Earth.
• Believed to have been caused
by a meteor impact.
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 Loss of Biodiversity
• Assuming no catastrophic events occur,
extinctions normally occur at a pretty
slow rate, called the background rate.
• Normal background extinction rate for
mammals is 1 every 200 years.
• Scientists believe we may be in the midst
of the next major extinction event, due
to human influences.
• Australia has experienced 27 mammal The short-tailed hopping
extinctions since 1788, primarily due to mouse, now extinct in
Australia.
the influence of European settlers.

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Environmental Ethics
• Environmental ethics is the discipline that studies the moral
relationship of human beings to the environment.
• What is the value of the environment?
• What moral responsibility do we have in dealing with the major
environmental problems that result from our resource consumption?
• Which needs should be given the highest priority in our decision making?
• Two main categories of ethics have emerged in human culture in
modern history.

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• Anthropocentrism literally
means “human-centered”.
• This set of ethics protects
and promotes human
interests or well-being at
the expense of all other
factors.
• Often places an emphasis
on short-term benefits
while disregarding long-
term consequences.

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• Ecocentrists believe that
nature deserves to exist
for its own sake
regardless of degree of
usefulness to humans.
• The preservation of
ecosystems or other
living things takes priority
over human needs.

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Hetch Hetchy Debate
• The debate about whether to build a dam in the
Hetch Hetchy valley was one of the first big debates
between these two philosophies.

Anthropocentrists Ecocentrists
argued that San argued that this
Francisco needed violated the
the water, and this very purpose of
was by far the most the Federal
viable option. Parks were to
be preserved
ecosystems –
untouched by
human hands.

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• The dam was eventually constructed.
• The justification for building it was
best stated by Gifford Pinochet, the
first man in charge of the U.S. Forest
Service.
"Where conflicting interests must be
reconciled, the question shall always be
answered from the standpoint of the
greatest good of the greatest number in
the long run.“
• This philosophy, called resource
conservationism, was also advocated
by Teddy Roosevelt.

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Before and After

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Modern Environmentalism
• In 1952, the Cuyahoga river in Ohio
caught fire due to all the pollution that
had accumulated in it.
• Rachel Carson published a book in 1962
entitled Silent Spring about the effects
of pesticides on large predatory birds,
particularly the bald eagle.
• This began a public awakening to threats
of pollution and toxic chemicals to humans
as well as other species.
• This movement is called Modern
Environmentalism.

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Global Environmentalism
•Increased travel and
communication enables people to
know about daily events in places
unknown in previous generations.
• Global environmentalism explores
issues and problems over the entire
world, not just within the local
community.
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The Tragedy of the Commons
• A great deal of progress has been made since the birth of modern
environmentalism, but many debates still rage on.
• An ecologist named Garrett Hardin wrote an essay called “The
Tragedy of the Commons”, describing the source of environmental
problems as a conflict:
• Short-term interests of individuals
versus…
Long-term interests of civilization and the Earth itself

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• A small village consists mostly of
farmers that raise and sell sheep at
a nearby city.
• The only place for the sheep to
graze is a commons in the center of
the village.
• A commons is an area that belongs to
no individual; it is shared by the
entire society.
• Likely outcome: Villagers obtain as
many sheep as possible, allow to
graze in the commons.
• Maximize short-term financial gain.
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• What if the commons was instead divided into sections
that was owned by each villager?
• Because the land is owned, individuals are much
more likely to plan and use it for the long-term.

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• The Tragedy of the Commons describes the likeliness
of a commons area being exploited for short-term
economic gain.
• Modern examples include the atmosphere and
oceans.

Zadar, Croatia
Norilsk, Russia Source: Agence France-Presse
Source: ecojunk.wordpress.com
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 Economics and the Environment
• Economics has a huge influence in environmental
decision-making.
• One of the most basic principles of economics is supply
and demand.
• The greater the demand for a limited resource, the higher the
price.

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 • Another important economic idea is the cost/benefit
analysis. This questions whether the benefit of doing
something justifies the economic cost.
• Waukegan Harbor cleanup efforts, in 2010, costs over $30
million.

Dredging the bottom to

remove accumulated
pollution.
Monitoring of fish, water, and sediment.

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 Case Study: Bhopal Pesticide Plant
• In December of 1984, a pesticide
factory located near the town of
Bhopal, India leaked a large amount of
toxic chemicals into the air.
• The chemicals resulted in an
immediate death toll of about 3,000
people, with 8,000 more dying of long-
term health ailments.
• A total of 558,125 injuries were reported
to the Indian government.
• A settlement of $470 million was reached
by Union Carbide and the Indian
government.

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Ethics and Economics
• The settlement was not sufficient to treat all of the long-
term health issues stemming from the disaster.
• The site itself was also not remediated.
• In 1999, Union Carbide was purchased by Dow Chemical.
• To properly compensate and treat all individuals affected
by this disaster, Dow Chemical would have to pay billions
of dollars in settlements.
• Dow Chemical has a yearly profit of over $2 billion, with
total assets worth nearly $70 billion.

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Developed and Developing Countries
• One of the factors that led to the
Bhopal disaster and lack of cleanup
is that at the time, India was a
developing country.
• Developing countries have lower
incomes, shorter life spans, and rapid
population growth.
• Developing countries,
overpopulated and desperate for
economic gain, tend to have less
regulations on their industries and
fewer environmental protections.
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• Developed countries on
average have higher incomes,
longer life spans, and slower
growth rate.
• These countries are more
economically stable, educated,
and have more environmental
protections.

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Population and Consumption
• Developed countries, while smaller in size and growth, consume
resources at a greater rate.
• About 20% of the world’s population uses 75% of its resources.

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The Demographic Divide
U.S. Japan Mexico Indonesia
Life Expectancy 77 81 71.5 68
Population Growth Rate 0.8% 0.2% 1.7% 1.8%
Gross National Product $29,240 $32,350 $3,840 $640
Per Person
Energy Use Per Person 351 168 59 18
(Millions of BTUs)
Carbon Dioxide Produced 20.4 9.3 3.5 2.2
Annually Per Person
Garbage Produced 720 400 300 43
Annually Per Person

Source: Holt Environmental Science, Arms, 2007

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• Many products used in developed countries are
produced in developing countries.
• Working conditions and pay in these countries is often at
levels that would be unacceptable elsewhere.

A collapsed garment factory in Savar, Bangladesh. Source: AP

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 Ecological Footprint
• An ecological footprint is one measurement of a person’s
resource use.
• Includes the amount of space needed to support each person
in a nation, including forests, farms, cities, etc.
• Developed countries have a much larger footprint,
reflecting a much larger use of resources.

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 The Goal: A Sustainable World
• Sustainability is when human needs are met so
that the population can survive indefinitely.
• “Meeting the needs of the
present without
compromising the ability of
future generations to meet
their own needs.”
• Brundtland Commission, 1987

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 The Spaceship Earth Worldview
• The Earth is a closed system, meaning
nothing enters or leaves the Earth in
large quantities is heat.
• Resources are limited, but the population
continues to increase.
• Wastes do not go away.

“We travel together, passengers on a little

ship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of
air and soil.”
- Adlai Stevenson
“Earthrise” taken by
Apollo 8 crew, 1968.

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